Irish seamers Rory Anders and Joshua Little picked up three wickets each, but tail-ender Zeeshan Ansari boosted India's total with a run-a-ball 36 at the end.

Ireland was bowled out for 189 in reply as Rahul Batham took three for 15 and Avesh Khan finished with two for 24.

An underwhelming performance

Sarfaraz said he was not satisfied despite winning the man of the match award.

"I should have scored more because I had settled in well," he said. "Hopefully, I will do better in the remaining matches. But it is good to start the tournament with a win."

India captain Ishan Kishan was relieved that his side collected maximum points. "We lost early wickets but runs were done by Sarfaraz and Washington who had an excellent partnership. The fielding effort was great as we inflicted two run-outs at the start and then, the bowlers hit the right areas," the opener said.

Kishan continued: "I am not that much happy with the batting as we lost early wickets but this was the first match and I am sure we'll learn from this match and do better in upcoming matches.

"India has won the event thrice, so the expectation level is pretty high. We have to play professionally and try to live up to the expectations."